Cooler days on the way for many

The heat that blanketed much of the United States will begin easing up this week as temperatures approach normal from the Midwest to the East Coast.

Andrew Orrison, a meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Camp Springs, Md., said Sunday night that a cold front through the South and the mid-Atlantic region will bring thunderstorms and showers.

It "will break the heat wave we've had," he said, dropping temperatures there to a more normal range of mid to upper 80s. The Southeast and Tennessee Valley will be in the low 90s, "still fairly warm," Orrison said, but not as hot as it has been.

The Midwest can expect cooler weather, as well, with temperatures in the 80s.

The cooler air began sweeping southward Sunday in the eastern half of the country, bringing down some temperatures by 15 or more degrees from Saturday's highs, which topped 100 in cities including Philadelphia, Washington, St. Louis, Indianapolis and Louisville, Ky.

The heat of the past several days has been blamed for at least 46 deaths across the country.

In Chicago, the Cook County medical examiner's office determined Sunday that eight more people died from heat-related causes, adding to the 10 deaths previously confirmed Saturday. The deaths included a 100-year-old woman, 65-year-old woman, a 53-year-old man, a 46-year-old woman and an unidentified man believed to be about 30 years old.

In Tennessee, the third heat-related death was a 62-year-old woman found dead in her home.

Deaths have also been reported by authorities in Maryland, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

To stay cool, Americans tried familiar solutions — dipping into the pool, going to the movies and riding subways to be in air-conditioning.

Gregory Englebach relaxed on a bench Sunday evening near the Starbucks coffee shop in Philadelphia where he'd worked all day, enjoying temperature that had dipped below 90 degrees.